"Flu data constipation@CDC:laxative needed."

Why in the world would the CDC even consider this? What would they have to gain by witholding info? It's bad enough that I can't convince my friends to take this seriously. Now this?

Isn't it interesting that whenever there is something going on of major proportion that our top leaders have their hands in it. This sub-contractor I know is working in Gulf Port, Mississippi, re-building. Guess who signs his checks? Yep, Haliburton. However it's spelled.

Not to be a comspiracy nut, but man!  Whether or not there is something they don't want to share right now, the timing is abysmal.  I had some trust in the CDC, at least for information (they have no budget or resources to DO much). Not now... 

The WHO probably is getting payola to hide strains,  from some multinational that wants to patent  a virus genome, and also get a lead on the vaccine development.  How much could you charge for a effective vaccine as the pandemic spreads? Makes gold prices look like spare change.

Pricing drugs undergoes a rather cold calculation of how many people will die without the drug (your "Total Market") versus how many people that will be unable to afford it (and thus die - your "lost sales") as the price gets higher and higher for a greater profit margin. This example is not meant to be a realistic scenario, just the concept.

So a vaccine costs $1 to produce (development is trivial, let's say 100 million).  1 billion people need it or die.  You could sell it a $2 and almost everyone can afford it, make 1 billion profit on 1 billion sales.

But let's say you charge $100 each, only 500 million can afford it.  500 million die, but your profit is $50.4 billion (500 million sales x $100 - 600 million cost to produce).

Pharmaceutical CEO's are the highest paid CEO's in any industry (some individuals are in the $150 million+ range). 

This post is the rather cynical view of its author, and does not reflect the completely altruistic aims of the pharmaceutical industry (as reflected in it's latest ad campaign of "We Care" in the midst of doubling, tripling, and quadrupling prices of long exising drugs)!